Desktop Support Contract Job Trends

Desktop Support
UK

The median Desktop Support daily rate in the UK is £195, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 13 March 2026.

The table below compares current contractor rates and summary statistics with the previous two years.

 6 months to
13 Mar 2026		 Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 390 327 296
Rank change year-on-year -63 -31 +15
Contract jobs requiring a Desktop Support 229 210 329
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.53% 0.71% 0.74%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.58% 0.77% 0.80%
Number of daily rates quoted 173 138 234
10th Percentile £150 £150 £124
25th Percentile £156 £169 £143
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £195 £200 £203
Median % change year-on-year -2.50% -1.23% -0.09%
75th Percentile £238 £236 £227
90th Percentile £285 £256 £300
UK excluding London median daily rate £175 £200 £205
% change year-on-year -12.50% -2.44% +2.50%
Number of hourly rates quoted 37 15 26
10th Percentile £16.25 £17.25 £16.63
25th Percentile £19.54 £21.25 £19.21
Median hourly rate £19.91 £23.00 £21.00
Median % change year-on-year -13.43% +9.52% +8.92%
75th Percentile £21.46 £28.63 £28.93
90th Percentile £22.37 £30.68 £30.88
UK excluding London median hourly rate £19.91 £23.00 £20.00
% change year-on-year -13.43% +15.00% +12.68%

All Contract IT Job Roles
UK

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job vacancies. Most job vacancies include a discernible job title that can be normalized. As such, the figures in the second row provide an indication of the number of contract jobs in our overall sample.

Contract vacancies in the UK with a recognized job title 39,357 27,378 41,374
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 91.90% 92.92% 92.86%
Number of daily rates quoted 24,580 17,687 27,135
10th Percentile £313 £296 £270
25th Percentile £410 £406 £406
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £613 £638 £638
90th Percentile £725 £738 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £480 £475 £488
% change year-on-year +1.05% -2.56% -2.50%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,451 863 2,500
10th Percentile £14.96 £15.47 £13.00
25th Percentile £19.00 £21.24 £16.25
Median hourly rate £35.00 £33.40 £32.50
Median % change year-on-year +4.79% +2.77% -23.53%
75th Percentile £65.00 £65.00 £59.44
90th Percentile £75.79 £77.44 £71.25
UK excluding London median hourly rate £35.00 £32.50 £32.50
% change year-on-year +7.69% - -19.90%

Desktop Support
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings featuring 'Desktop Support' in the job title relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.

Desktop Support job vacancy trend in the UK

Desktop Support
Daily Rate Trend

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Desktop Support job vacancies in the UK.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Desktop Support job vacancies in the UK

Desktop Support
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Desktop Support over the 6 months to 13 March 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Desktop Support in the UK

Desktop Support
Hourly Rate Trend

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Desktop Support job vacancies in the UK.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Desktop Support job vacancies in the UK

Desktop Support
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Desktop Support over the 6 months to 13 March 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Desktop Support in the UK

Desktop Support
Top 16 Contract Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Desktop Support within the UK over the 6 months to 13 March 2026. The 'Rank Change' column provides an indication of the change in demand within each location based on the same 6 month period last year.

Location Rank Change
on Same Period
Last Year		 Matching
Contract
IT Job Ads		 Median
Daily Rate
Past 6 Months		 Median Daily Rate
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year		 Live
Jobs
England -52 213 £195 -2.50% 30
UK excluding London -64 179 £175 -12.50% 26
London -50 48 £213 +6.25% 11
Midlands -43 38 £175 -12.50%
North of England -59 35 £175 -10.26% 4
East of England -8 33 £195 -2.50% 2
South West -22 32 £250 +11.11% 7
East Midlands -8 29 £175 -10.83%
South East -63 25 £172 -12.05% 12
North West -30 16 £175 -9.68% 2
Work from Home -20 15 £163 -46.28% 2
Yorkshire -51 13 £230 +4.55% 2
Wales -1 10 £160 -
West Midlands -64 9 £145 -27.50%
Scotland -3 6 £200 +33.33% 2
North East -16 6 £175 +12.90%

Desktop Support Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities

For the 6 months to 13 March 2026, Desktop Support contract job roles required the following skills and capabilities in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number of co-occurrences and as a proportion of all contract job ads featuring Desktop Support in the job title.

1 132 (57.64%) Windows
2 101 (44.10%) Microsoft 365
3 93 (40.61%) Microsoft
4 82 (35.81%) Customer Service
5 75 (32.75%) Active Directory
6 73 (31.88%) Security Cleared
7 72 (31.44%) SC Cleared
8 67 (29.26%) Windows 10
9 49 (21.40%) Microsoft Office
10 43 (18.78%) Mac OS
11 39 (17.03%) Microsoft Intune
12 38 (16.59%) Android
13 36 (15.72%) Azure
14 35 (15.28%) Cisco
15 34 (14.85%) Apple
16 33 (14.41%) HP
17 32 (13.97%) ITIL
17 32 (13.97%) Wireless
18 31 (13.54%) Business Intelligence
18 31 (13.54%) Digital Marketing
18 31 (13.54%) Programme Management
18 31 (13.54%) SAP
18 31 (13.54%) SLA
19 30 (13.10%) Dell
20 29 (12.66%) SCCM
21 28 (12.23%) Problem-Solving
22 27 (11.79%) Migration
22 27 (11.79%) Service Delivery
23 26 (11.35%) ServiceNow
24 22 (9.61%) SharePoint

Desktop Support Skill Set
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities by Category

The following tables expand on the one above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. They cover the same employment type, locality and period, with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each category:

Application Platforms
1 22 (9.61%) SharePoint
2 17 (7.42%) Microsoft Exchange
Applications
1 49 (21.40%) Microsoft Office
2 15 (6.55%) Microsoft Excel
2 15 (6.55%) Spreadsheet
3 1 (0.44%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 2 (0.87%) assyst
2 1 (0.44%) Remedy ITSM
Cloud Services
1 101 (44.10%) Microsoft 365
2 36 (15.72%) Azure
3 13 (5.68%) Entra ID
4 10 (4.37%) OneDrive
5 4 (1.75%) Google Ads
5 4 (1.75%) Google Workspace
5 4 (1.75%) Slack
6 2 (0.87%) Microsoft Copilot
7 1 (0.44%) Google Drive
Communications & Networking
1 32 (13.97%) Wireless
2 21 (9.17%) VPN
3 13 (5.68%) PABX
4 11 (4.80%) DNS
5 9 (3.93%) DHCP
5 9 (3.93%) Skype
5 9 (3.93%) TCP/IP
6 8 (3.49%) Cisco IOS
7 3 (1.31%) Softphone
8 2 (0.87%) LAN
8 2 (0.87%) Wi-Fi
9 1 (0.44%) Firewall
9 1 (0.44%) IPv4
9 1 (0.44%) Network Security
9 1 (0.44%) Telepresence
9 1 (0.44%) Unified Communications
9 1 (0.44%) VoIP
Development Applications
1 4 (1.75%) JIRA
General
1 88 (38.43%) Social Skills
2 47 (20.52%) Finance
3 37 (16.16%) Public Sector
4 34 (14.85%) Telecoms
5 32 (13.97%) Manufacturing
6 31 (13.54%) Electronics
6 31 (13.54%) Marketing
7 18 (7.86%) Analytical Skills
8 9 (3.93%) Retail
9 7 (3.06%) Aerospace
10 6 (2.62%) Documentation Skills
10 6 (2.62%) Law
10 6 (2.62%) Organisational Skills
11 4 (1.75%) Banking
12 3 (1.31%) Pharmaceutical
13 2 (0.87%) Legal
14 1 (0.44%) Financial Institution
14 1 (0.44%) Investment Banking
14 1 (0.44%) Local Government
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 1 (0.44%) Software Packaging
Miscellaneous
1 31 (13.54%) Self-Motivation
1 31 (13.54%) Smartphone
2 25 (10.92%) Data Centre
3 12 (5.24%) Onboarding
4 10 (4.37%) Mobile App
5 8 (3.49%) Hybrid Cloud
5 8 (3.49%) Management Information System
6 6 (2.62%) iPhone
6 6 (2.62%) Video Conferencing
7 5 (2.18%) Enterprise Software
7 5 (2.18%) iPad
7 5 (2.18%) Virtual Team
8 3 (1.31%) Hedge funds
9 2 (0.87%) Driving Licence
9 2 (0.87%) Tandem
10 1 (0.44%) Analytical Mindset
10 1 (0.44%) Augmented Reality
10 1 (0.44%) BYOD
10 1 (0.44%) Data Protection Act
10 1 (0.44%) Virtual Reality
Operating Systems
1 132 (57.64%) Windows
2 67 (29.26%) Windows 10
3 43 (18.78%) Mac OS
4 38 (16.59%) Android
5 13 (5.68%) Apple iOS
6 10 (4.37%) Windows Server
7 6 (2.62%) Windows 7
8 4 (1.75%) Windows 8
9 1 (0.44%) Linux
9 1 (0.44%) Windows XP
Processes & Methodologies
1 82 (35.81%) Customer Service
2 32 (13.97%) ITIL
3 31 (13.54%) Business Intelligence
3 31 (13.54%) Digital Marketing
3 31 (13.54%) Programme Management
4 28 (12.23%) Problem-Solving
5 27 (11.79%) Migration
5 27 (11.79%) Service Delivery
6 20 (8.73%) Continuous Improvement
6 20 (8.73%) Time Management
7 16 (6.99%) Asset Management
8 15 (6.55%) ITSM
8 15 (6.55%) Logistics
9 14 (6.11%) Incident Management
10 11 (4.80%) Inventory Management
10 11 (4.80%) Service Management
11 10 (4.37%) Computer Science
12 9 (3.93%) Infrastructure Management
12 9 (3.93%) Project Delivery
12 9 (3.93%) Workflow
Programming Languages
1 13 (5.68%) PowerShell
2 1 (0.44%) Python
Qualifications
1 73 (31.88%) Security Cleared
2 72 (31.44%) SC Cleared
3 14 (6.11%) Degree
4 13 (5.68%) ITIL Certification
5 7 (3.06%) A+ Certification
6 3 (1.31%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
7 2 (0.87%) Computer Science Degree
7 2 (0.87%) Microsoft Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 31 (13.54%) SLA
2 7 (3.06%) GDPR
3 2 (0.87%) QA
System Software
1 75 (32.75%) Active Directory
2 5 (2.18%) Firmware
3 2 (0.87%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 39 (17.03%) Microsoft Intune
2 29 (12.66%) SCCM
3 2 (0.87%) Jamf Pro
Vendors
1 93 (40.61%) Microsoft
2 35 (15.28%) Cisco
3 34 (14.85%) Apple
4 33 (14.41%) HP
5 31 (13.54%) SAP
6 30 (13.10%) Dell
7 26 (11.35%) ServiceNow
8 8 (3.49%) McAfee
9 7 (3.06%) Starlink
10 5 (2.18%) Google
11 4 (1.75%) Remedy
12 3 (1.31%) Bloomberg
13 2 (0.87%) Salesforce
14 1 (0.44%) Altiris
14 1 (0.44%) Barracuda Networks
14 1 (0.44%) Citrix
14 1 (0.44%) CrowdStrike
14 1 (0.44%) Nexthink
14 1 (0.44%) SolarWinds
14 1 (0.44%) Veeam
31 Desktop Support jobs Nationwide